Courage, Cowardice and Confessions
by Vree
Summary: Draco and Harry's POV's after HBP, and then Dumbledore's confession. Three ficlets for the click of one. HBP spoilers though


Courage, Cowardice and Confessions

By: Vree

Pairing: Ughm…. If I continue it out, it might just be Draco and Harry and Sevvie and someone. evil grins But you never know with me, I tend to be slightly demented and go with whims.

Rating: Probably around K… There's nothing graphic in it really.

Summary: Courage, Cowardice and Confessions… Draco and Harry's POV and then Dumbledore's confession. Three short little ficlets for the price of one.

Disclaimer: I own very little, so it's kind of obvious that I don't own Harry Potter. If I owned Harry Potter I would probably own a little more, ne? she smiles impishly And anyway, some lady named JKR wrote him up, I'm just borrowing him a bit for my amusement, no profit.

Warnings: I don't know if I kept them in character. You can argue that I didn't, but in a way, I think they are. Draco may be a nasty boy at times, but I think when he almost gave into Dumbledore at the end there, that he proved that he does have a little twinkling of good. Dumbledore obviously saw it and I'm kind of hoping others do as well. This also obviously contains spoilers for HBP, so if you haven't read it, then you might not want to' read this. If you continue on, then enjoy.

This hasn't been beta'd, you've been warned. grins

Draco's POV

Courage… It is a hard thing for me to define, as I am really not that courageous. That all changed though when it happened. When my godfather saved me from what I had to do.

I had been dragged into a fiendish plot by my aunt and her 'lord' whenever my father failed at his assigned task. It seemed that since the father had fallen, they wanted the son to fall even harder. My mother, she went to Severus and made sure that he would watch out for me… To make sure that I didn't fall to an insane man's cruel games.

I did not know that she'd done this until he'd finally told me about halfway though the year. I am still not sure I should thank her or yell and scream at her for dragging him into this. Of course he knew what I had to do. He was in the inner circle. He had Voldemort so fooled that he came to be his right hand man.

That night I was so frightened, I could not do it, but I had all of those people watching me… Looking at me… Judging me and seeing me as being less than what I am, and gods now I wish that I'd just let them think what they would. Dumbledore had almost convinced me to stop and join him. I wanted to so badly that I could taste it. I just wanted to conjure him back his wand and let him protect me like he had done for Potter all throughout his schooling. But they had to come up there and make sure that I did it… And stupid me… I was going to…

That is until Severus saved me. He took what I was supposed to do and did it to save me from it. He killed Dumbledore for me. Not for the Dark Lord, not even for mum really. He did it to save me from having to. His courage protected me from myself in that instance, saved the tiny bit of my innocence that I had left. But now, I don't know what to do. We are both hunted, by both sides and it seems we are doomed to run for the rest of our lives.

The dark side would take us back, but neither of us can stomach the idea of crawling back to the Dark Lord. The light side thinks that we are betrayers, that we are the creatures, the monsters that haunt them in the night, destroying their dreams and killing their loved ones. I am not this though. I am just a boy. A rather confused one at that.

I just want to stop, but I can not. Because I have to be courageous now too… And I do not know if I can do it, but I can try… For the most courageous man that I know.

Harry's POV

Cowardice… That's what I think of when I think of the betrayer. He killed his mentor without a thought it seemed and I was there, I saw it with my own eyes. The pain I felt at this has only been equaled by when Sirius fell into the Veil. Dumbledore hadn't been just Snape's mentor… He'd been mine as well. He'd guided me and in his own little demented way tried to protect me from what evils my life would soon wield. All for not though, as I witness them every night in my dreams.

It seems that every year someone dies, sometimes more than one someone, in this bloody fight for survival that has become our lives. I feel like I can't let anyone close to me, as they all seem to be the next ones to fall. I really don't want Hermione and Ron to go on this escapade with me… I don't want them to die as well. I want them to be happy, get married, have bunches of children, so that I can look towards them and be reminded of what I'm fighting for. So that I can see what my heart wants to have and knows that it never will.

I'm still in shock I think… I saw him… Broken and bloody on the ground in front of the tower, his glasses broken, his body lifeless. I pains me to remember it. If only he hadn't been so weak from what we had gone to do earlier, and only to find out that it was all for naught. It just seems wrong to me. That it's all a bad dream that I'll never wake up from.

But to me, this is why Snape is the embodiment of cowardice. He killed a weak old man who had stood up for him and cared for him as if he were his own son. He destroyed the man that I leaned on for strength and now I'm going to have to find that strength on my own. And I will find that strength… I will demolish the Dark Lord. Nothing that is out there can stop me now. The things that were holding me back are all gone now. Snape's cowardice is going to bring about his 'lord's' destruction.

Confessions

There was a hush throughout the room as the Order gathered together, and looked at the orb on the table. McGonagal stood up and looked around at all of the people in the room, her face weary and weathered, sadness seeming to echo from her eyes as she looked at each member in turn, then turned to the children. They were their future, but they'd already seen so much, fought through so many battles, that she couldn't not include them in what was happening here today.

With a soft sigh, she started, "On orders of Dumbledore's death, he instructed me to play this for all of you, so that he could explain a few things that he never had in life. I think that the viewing will explain everything." The crowd made a bit of noise at this, and then quickly quieted down, as Minerva leaned down and tapped the orb with her wand, then, resuming her seat to watch the proceedings.

The orb glowed a vibrant gold and then emitted a sharp silver light, and in that light, Dumbledore appeared, see through though he may be, he was there, sitting cross legged on the middle of the table. "Oh, my. I haven't been able to get into this position in many years", he laughed, twinkling his bright blue eyes at all of the people in attendance, sending them out a wise smile, waving one of his hands randomly to them all. "Now, if this is being played, then I've most likely died… Or gone into a coma, been attacked by a rabid platypus, or possibly been beaten to death by one of you for being so vague. We all know you wanted to do it at least once in your lives." Here he twinkled again and many of the people in attendance blushed and fidgeted in their seats.

"No matter how it is that you're coming to view this, I must be indisposed, and therefore you need to know a few things. I made this a few months ago when Severus came to me with a problem. He'd been forced into a sacred oath that he would basically have to kill me… Well, there was more to it then that, but in any case, he was supposed to take Draco's place doing me in if it came down to it. Evidently, if I'm not here, then I didn't get a chance to talk to Mister Malfoy." Here the old man shook his head. "I've been so busy trying to find Voldemort's Horcrux's that I more than likely just didn't get the time. Oh, well, life is only meant to be lived for so long, and then we all go on to the next big game." Here he smiled at the crowd. "I just want you to know that I ordered Severus to follow his orders. He's too important to me to let him die from that oath. He's like a son to me and braver than any of you know. Just to have given up so much in his life so that others could live means that he should be forgiven. Me, I'm just an old man whose lived my days. Those two both have all of their lives in front of them. Draco especially. There is more to that child than any of you know and I wish for you all to give him a chance in the future."

Dumbledore turned and almost unerringly looked to Harry, who gravely looked back. "Harry my boy. You are strong. Stronger than you know and you will get through all of this. You will defeat Voldemort, not because of what you are, your title, or the people who tell you that you will, but because you are you. Nothing but yourself. You are a strong wizard my boy, no matter what other tell you and you have the strength inside of you to beat this menace. Look inside yourself Harry. Find that strength. It's called love. Your love will beat Voldemort's 'great power' any day of the week. Find it, use it, and you will beat him."

He looked to all the rest of the crowd. "For everyone else… I am so proud of you all… You have chosen a side and fought for that side with everything that you can give it. You decided what you thought was right and did it. Remus. I really hope that you give Tonks a chance. Hagrid, you were always by my side and trusted me to do the right things, thank you for that." Hagrid let out a great sob as the see through Dumbledore went on, "Minerva, my dove, you'll make it without me, and I'll see you someday." Minerva choked up here for a moment, tears coming to her eyes as she looked to the man she'd loved for the majority of her life.

"My children, my young ones, let them be safe. Please close the school until Harry has defeated him. I want them with their loved ones and I want everyone safe. I don't want you all to come join me on the adventure this soon."

With a sad twinkle, he looked at everyone in the room, almost looking like if he were there, he'd be memorizing their features. "In a way, I love you all. Prosper my children, find your strength, your love, and prosper." With those parting words, Dumbledore vanished from their life's for the last time and Minerva gave in and sobbed.

A.N. I left out the whole thing about Snape being the Prince on purpose, as it didn't fit into what I was writing there, and I really don't think Harry would really want to be thinking about how Snape was the Prince that he looked to so often for guidance at what he thought there. This may continue out with other POV's, but that depends on if the writing bug bites me again. Darn thing hunts me down sometimes, but I was thinking about doing another three part called "Confusion, Contempt and Connection."


End file.
